A standard storage and transport container for radioactive waste has an upwardly open vessel having a closed bottom, solid walls, and an open upper mouth and a lid sealingly engaged over and completely blocking the mouth. A feed tube, through which fluids are fed into or taken out of the vessel interior for cleaning, filling, or inspection purposes, is fixed to the lid. This tube extends down in the vessel to a location immediately adjacent, that is spaced slightly up from, the upper surface of the bottom of the vessel. As the feed tube is still fairly delicate, it is difficult to fit a lid equipped with it to a vessel because if it is bumped at all it can be damaged beyond use.
Such a feed tube is connected in the system of German patent document No. 3,026,249 to a filling, draining, or testing machine by a standard tapered plug that is fitted into the upper feed-tube end and secured by a flange to the lid. Leakage at this joint can be dangerous, so considerable precautions must be taken, usually resulting in extended hookup time and requiring expensive couplings and fittings.
A more effective arrangement is described in German utility model No. 7,825,615. Here a feed-through fitting is provided in the wall or bottom of the vessel, eliminating the need for a tube extending down to the lower limits of the vessel interior where gases are sampled and material is fed in. Unfortunately such a connection is quite expensive to install, and is itself a very costly item, so its use is limited to very large containers.